BILL ANALYSIS
------------------------------------------------------------
|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 563|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|1020 N Street, Suite 524 | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
------------------------------------------------------------
THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 563
Author: Cook (R)
Amended: 8/17/09 in Senate
Vote: 27 - Urgency
SENATE VETERANS AFFAIRS COMMITTEE : 6-0, 6/23/09
AYES: Denham, Correa, Wiggins, Negrete McLeod, Cedillo,
Maldonado
NO VOTE RECORDED: Wyland
SENATE REVENUE & TAXATION COMMITTEE : 8-0, 7/8/09
AYES: Wolk, Walters, Alquist, Ashburn, Florez, Padilla,
Runner, Wiggins
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 78-0, 5/11/09 (Consent) - See last page
for vote
SUBJECT : California Military Family Relief Fund
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill requires monies transferred to the
California Military Family Relief Fund, upon appropriation
by the Legislature and after allocation to the Franchise
Tax Board and the State Controller, to be allocated to the
state Military Department for the establishment of
financial aid grants provided to California National Guard
members and reserve members of the Armed forces of the
CONTINUED
AB 563
Page
2
United States, as specified.
ANALYSIS : Existing law allows taxpayers to contribute
(not tax liabilities) to one or more of the 11 voluntary
contribution funds listed on the state personal income tax
return.
Each voluntary contribution fund must meet a minimum annual
contribution of $250,000. The minimum contribution amount
does not apply to the California Seniors Special Fund, the
California Firefighters Memorial Fund, and the California
Peace Officer Foundation Memorial Fund. This minimum
contribution is adjusted annually for inflation for all
voluntary contribution funds, except for those referenced
above, and the California Fund for Senior Citizens. Except
for the California Seniors Special Fund, each voluntary
contribution fund has a sunset date.
Existing law authorizes the California Military Family
Relief fund, created in 2004 by SB 1162 (Machado), Chapter
546, Statutes of 2004, and allocated money generated by tax
check-offs to the Military Department, which then makes
grants to California residents who are members of the
California National Guard called to active duty.
California National Guard members receiving a punitive
discharge or an administrative discharge under conditions
other than honorable are not eligible for the grants.
Grants may be used for food, housing, child care,
utilities, medical services, medical prescriptions,
insurance, and vehicle payments. The Military Department
established criteria for the grants; however, state law
requires proof of California residency, membership in the
National Guard, and deployment to active duty for at least
100 days. Initially, a grantee's military salary must have
decreased by 30 percent or more from their civilian salary
to be eligible; however, the Legislature changed
eligibility for the grant program if the military salary,
combined with any ongoing partial receipt of civilian
salary, has decreased by 10 percent or more from the
member's civilian salary (AB 2085 [Parra], Chapter 607,
Statutes of 2006). Last year, the Legislature extended the
program to 2015 as long as it reaches its donation
thresholds, and expanded eligibility to all reserve members
of the Armed Forces (AB 3016 [Cook], Chapter 645, Statutes
AB 563
Page
3
of 2008). The fund has met the contribution thresholds
each year in which they applied.
Existing law details allocation of funds from the
California Military Family Relief Fund. The Legislature
shall appropriate monies form the fund:
1.To the State Controller and the Franchise Tax Board to
administer the program.
2.To the Military Department for financial aid grants to
California residents who are members or reserves of the
Armed forces of the United States according to a
schedule.
Existing law requires a Memorandum of Agreement to govern
grant allocations to eligible persons.
This bill:
1.Deletes the funding schedule, and the requirement for the
Memorandum of Agreement to govern grant allocations to
eligible persons. The Military Department will instead
allocate funds according to its criteria.
2.Makes eligible for grants under the fund members of the
military injured while serving on active duty, discharged
from federal active duty, and actively seeking assistance
through the United States Department of Veterans' Affairs
with regard to disability compensation benefits or
treatment, or both. The bill requires that the member
eligible under this criterion submit an application for a
cash grant within 18 months of being released from
federal military active duty, along with written
substantiation demonstrating that the member's current
financial hardship is a direct result of a military
deployment and an injury sustained during the deployment.
3.Makes other technical changes.
Comments
This bill arises from a potential conflict of interest
between joint ethics rules guiding military personnel, and
AB 563
Page
4
the requirement enacted by AB 301 (Cook), Chapter 645,
Statutes of 2008, that fund proceeds be allocated pursuant
to a memorandum of agreement between representatives of at
least three reserve components. The working group has not
yet developed the memorandum of agreement. According to
the author's office, having one member of a reserve
component as part of the working group to develop a
memorandum of agreement allocating the funds conflicts with
joint ethics rules, which restrict a branch of the military
from interacting with a nonfederal entity, in assisting
members of the Armed Forces in receiving grant monies.
This bill remedies this problem by removing the memorandum
of agreement requirement, instead allowing the Military
Department to allocate the funds.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield,
Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter,
Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon,
DeVore, Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong,
Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick,
Gilmore, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill,
Huber, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Krekorian, Lieu,
Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Monning,
Nava, Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, John A. Perez, V. Manuel
Perez, Portantino, Price, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Silva,
Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Audra Strickland, Swanson,
Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran, Villines, Bass
NO VOTE RECORDED: Duvall, Yamada
TSM:cm 8/19/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: NONE RECEIVED
**** END ****